Sunday, September 13, 2009

The Sunday Salon: Back in the Groove

I'm back in my reading groove, which makes me so very happy. The Count of Monte Cristo was amazing, but a month devoted to one book totally threw me off my own self-imposed reading schedule, which is all in my head.

Since I finished with The Count, I've been flying through a bunch of books. I have added a new reading period this past week. My daughter turned 12 recently and now believes she should be allowed to stay up until 10 p.m., so we've been sitting on my bed, each reading our own novels, for about 30 minutes each evening. Her desire for this time together has taken me away from what used to be an hour or so spent mindlessly on Facebook. Social networking or time with my little girl and a book? Not a hard choice.

So in the past few weeks I've read:
Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas (review here)
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (review here)
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (review here)
Buster Midnight's Cafe by Sandra Dallas
Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
The Girl from Yamhill by Beverly Cleary

I'm currently halfway through New Stories from the South, 2008. Dr. H. bought this for me back in February, but I haven't been in the mood for short stories until now. Now I have all kinds of short story ideas running through my head, and I have a strong compulsion to write. I feel my eyes glazing over when people are talking to me because I am crafting lines. I shouldn't read short stories unless I have time to write…

Next up, I'll be catching up on book reviews.

6 comments:

Frances said...

I have a similar thing with my 11 year old. Once a month or so, we have Girls Night. We sleep upstairs in my room and the boys all go downstairs for the night (Daddy too). We stay up as late as we can reading. Great fun! Happy reading!

serendipity_viv said...

I have a reading time with my girls too. We try and read for half an hour every evening together. Telly off and the whole family sat down with our individual books.

Melissa said...

We do the same sort of reading time here, too. Each night my twins (almost 8) and I head up to the guest room, where we read for about 20 minutes or so, and then my daughter and I read for another half hour in her room. It's absolutely priceless ... and you're right, so much better than frittering away an hour on FB, etc.

Rebecca Reid said...

I think that's why I hesitate to pick up the huge books: because I have a "reading plan" that will get messed up. Good for you, though.

I'm glad your reading with you daughter! What a great time together.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Good for you!

Petunia said...

We have more in common than our reading taste. My daughter turned 12 last week and I too spend mindless hours on Facebook. :) I am attempting to rectify the latter with little success.